"I'm drawn to women who aren't painted in history as sweet figures. Patti Smith was prickly. She was frustrated. She didn't take people's s--t," she shares in the May 2014 issue of Fashionmagazine. "There's no better music idol for young women, because there is a lot of pressure for us to be really positive all the time. Every photo shoot I do, I get asked for big smiles, and I shouldn't have to be that way."

In that vein, the 17-year-old singer also wants her fans to know she has flaws and isn't ashamed of them. Earlier this week, she shared a close up of her acne after seeing a similar image had been Photoshopped to remove the pimples.

It isn't that she's against getting glam every once and awhile (the publication's cover, in which she's wearing a dazzling Dolce & Gabbana dress is proof of that) but Lorde feels like honestly is the best policy with her fans because "young people have changed the way we view pop culture…we now have this discerning power. We all have Tumblers, we curate imagery every day. We can sniff out bulls--t faster."

And as for what she represents to teens now, well, she says she hopes to inspire. "There are very few limits on what can be achieved by anyone of any age, living anywhere and of any race, because of the web…I'm proof of that."